The Old Order
The Old Order The Old Order is a monastic order defined by their belief in the dragons as gods and their opposition to the current imperial regime. Founding The Old Order was founded in the year five, 5 years after Turoon's victory agains the dragons. They were originally founded in their capital of Hakukana. They used to occupy most of the White Island, and were considered a serious threat to the stability of the empire. Reasoning The Old Order has several beliefs that directly contradict Turoon's teaching, they also believe Turoon did more to hurt the world than to save it. Beliefs The Old Order sees the dragons as an all encompassing source of power, they believe the dragons were and are humanity's only chance of survival. They revere the dragons in their old form, they see the new use and dispersal of the dragons' power as a foolish dilution of what their power could be. They also choose to believe the unpopular archaeological expeditions that "proved" that futuristic technology existed before Turoon, and that Turoon's rebellion stripped humanity of their technology. Concrete proof of these claims "disappeared" months after it was obtained. It remains in question whether they were destroyed by the imperials, or never existed in the first place. Flaws of Turoon The Old Order believes strongly that Turoon was a tyrant, who used magic to exploit the minds of the corruptible masses. They see his followers as weak minded, and dependent on a corrupt system. They also see the mass depopulation of the islands as an unnecessary sacrifice, many of them ponder the question: "If Turoon was so powerful, why did he have to kill the mortals?" Monks of the Old Order question every notion proposed by the stories of Turoon. Was he really human? Did he really need the humans? Did he kill the dragons just to become more powerful? Why Hakukana? Originally, the founders of the Old Order chose Hakukana out of convenience, but the city has proven to be an incredibly defensible fortress. In addition, the surrounded islands were quick to side with the Old Order, and their people have proven to be loyal. The reason for this loyalty is probably the largely nonhuman, or sometimes monstrous origins of the inhabitants. Geography All of the Islands are fairly low to the water, most are forest or swampland. That is, with the exception of the capital island, which is a volcanic island with a small, but fertile, territory of farmland by Hakukana. The people of the islands are incredibly varied and almost exclusively nonhuman. Each island tends to be occupied exclusively by one race. * Keopali, the southern-most island, is a swampland occupied mostly by tribal Orcs. * Peowanu, the middle of the three eastern islands, is occupied by tribal lizardfolk. * Kaleilalini, the top of the three eastern islands, is occupied by warring clans of goblins. * Laukuuhouu, the biggest of the eastern island chain, also known as the isle of giants, is controlled by a large clan of Goliaths, with the occasional giant family. * The capital island has two inhabitants, each centered around a population center ** Hopapume, near the volcano mouth, is a town made up of feral tieflings ** Hakukana, on the coastline, is populated by mostly humans with orcish blood. Government The Old Order is one part monastic order, and one part crime syndicate. Their leadership structure implies nobility, and monastic tradition, but the reality is that any member of the hierarchy will gladly assassinate those above them for the sake of gaining more power in the organization. Organization Structure The higher positions of the organization are as follows: * Maha-thera, the high leader of all the organization, currently Half-orc Atu Tar * Thera, the leadership council, power to make the laws and have their own sub-orders, eight current members of this rank * Majjhima, the generals of the armies or the admirals of the navies, direct servants of the Theras * Nissaya-mutaka, the regional governors of an individual island, more are appointed as more islands are gained. Often selected from the population of the islands as a representative for their people. * Navaka, the in-temple monks of the order, high guardsmen, or information-keepers of the Maha-thera. * Anyone below this rank is considered a Samanera, or a citizen of the Old Order, responsible for paying taxes and obeying laws. Generally speaking, the biggest gap between these roles is between the Samanera and everyone else. If you are not in the hierarchy, you are essentially pinned to the lower class by tax burden and lack of martial training. There is not even opportunity for a mercantile class, as all trading is done by the Old Order themselves. There is no private market, everything is sold through the government. Important People Atu Tar Atu Tar is a female Half Orc who has gotten to her position by being the most brutal, scheming member of the hierarchy. She trusts no one, and will have anyone killed if they appear threatening. She is also a master martial artist, and has killed multiple challengers in one-on-one combat. She is notoriously intelligent, a master schemer, and incredibly brutal. She is not to be messed with. Bu'rag Bu'rag is a Thera of the high council, he is a younger Orc. He is a Kensei monk who won his position by killing all those ahead of him in duels. He is a strong military commander, who is the general for the main Old Order Army. He wields his notorious magical, massive scimitar called "Bu'rag's Head Taker." Geaghan Thunderherder Geaghan Thunderherder is a male goliath who is known a s the Thunderherder for his magical abilities. It is said that Geaghan ate the egg of a mythical yellow dragon, and gained the power to control the thunder. Today, he is a Thera who is responsible for training the new monks. The Dragonblood and other Secret Projects Deep in the libraries of Hakukana, many books that would be burned in the empire are spread like wildfire. As such, the Old Order spends significant resources attempting to develop ways to harness the draconic power that emanates from the Shrouded Isles. This research, and by extension the use of it, is highly heretical to the empire. The Order would likely become a main focus of the empire if it were to become known to them. The most well developed project in production is Dragonblood. This project aims to infuse a person's bloodline with the power of the dragons, hoping that they could gain some magical power from it. This research has proven to be dangerous, and a few times dragon-based monstrosities have been formed as byproducts of an experiment. The Ulilualia Directive Following the recent loss of Ulilualia, Atu called a meeting of all the Thera in Hakukana, where they resolved that the Old Order must enter their endgame ahead of schedule. In that meeting, they decided that territorial acquisition is no longer the goal of the order. They have reevaluated their goals and defined them as: * Protect all currently held territory, take back the lost land if their is an opportunity * Develop a highly trained force of monks * Use those monks to both: ** Defend the capital ** Infiltrate the empire * Spread the words of the Old Order as a religion in the nearby isles. * Allocate resources to the "Dragonblood Development Project" with the hope of finishing it soon.